The Countess's Body Has Disappeared - Chapter 52

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Episode 52
‘Why would she hand this to me?’
Cecilia blinked in bewilderment, accepting the garment even as confusion clouded her expression.
“Is the Manor short-staffed? Did someone get dismissed?”
“No. The Mistress has an important engagement today, and she prefers to have someone young and presentable attending to the guests. Everyone recommended you, naturally.”
Kate answered with her usual bright smile, but at those words, Cecilia’s face fell.
Ugh. And of all times, her lower back throbbed more insistently the longer she stood still.
“What sort of important engagement?”
“The Second Young Master is back, and he’s seeing someone today for a match-making meeting!”
“And what does that have to do with me?”
“Silly, someone has to go into the parlor and serve tea to the guest, doesn’t she?”
Cecilia recalled a conversation she’d had with Kate some time ago.
A famous actress, she’d said then. Cecilia’s mind conjured an image of a fair-haired beauty materializing before her eyes.
Holding the maid uniform, Cecilia had grown lost in thought when a nagging detail suddenly caught her attention, and she frowned.
“Do nobles usually hold match-making meetings at home, though?”
“I’m not certain about that myself. Perhaps the Mistress moved up the date? I heard it was supposed to be a fortnight away.”
“Actually, while you’re here, there’s something else I’d like to ask…….”
Cecilia glanced around cautiously, then pressed a finger to her lips and leaned close.
“If the Second Young Master gets angry, is he as frightening as the Mistress? Does he turn the Manor upside down or something?”
“Don’t be ridiculous. There’s no one in this world as terrifying as the Mistress, Cecilia.”
Ah. That much was true.
So now she’d finally get to see the Second Young Master? The moment that thought crossed her mind, her reluctance evaporated like morning dew, and despite herself, a smile tugged at her lips.
She’d have plenty to tell him about when he arrived again. This summons to the Manor might work out rather well after all.
Anticipating the time she’d spend with him again soon, Cecilia followed Kate to change into the maid uniform.
* * *
Davion emerged from the bathroom in a shower robe, rubbing his damp hair dry with a towel.
Beyond the window where morning sunlight pooled, unnamed birds chirped peacefully. The short hand of the grandfather clock rested on the ten.
Already ten o’clock. He’d meant to slip back out after changing clothes in his bedroom, but unluckily he’d run straight into Blake instead. He’d had no choice but to feign grogginess and retrace his steps.
She’d had the bedding washed while he was up…….
Davion checked his usual spot for clean clothes, hoping Cecilia was still asleep. His brow furrowed.
The clothes he’d left there had been replaced with formal wear.
A grey three-piece suit, no less. The jacket felt stiff, with rigid shoulders. No matter how he looked at it, this was hardly the kind of thing to wear in such sweltering summer heat.
……Not unless something special was happening.
Aileen was absorbed in cleaning the room. Davion stared blankly at the formal attire before the words tumbled out of him, sharp and edged.
“What’s with this suit? Is there a party I don’t know about?”
Aileen straightened up and turned to face him, her expression apologetic and careful.
“The Mistress instructed me to change your clothes, sir.”
“……Why?”
“The Rene Family’s daughter is visiting today. We only learned of it suddenly last evening.”
There was only one daughter of the Rene Family he knew.
Davion’s mouth went dry. What had his mother been wearing earlier?
An afternoon dress with a fitted waist, if he recalled correctly. And her hair was pinned up as well. She rarely dressed that way except when receiving distinguished guests.
‘Surely not…….’
His movements became frantic. Having nothing else to wear, he hastily threw on the formal shirt and trousers at hand, then rushed toward Blake’s room breathless with urgency.
Blake had left her door wide open as if she’d been expecting him.
“Mother!”
She glanced back at his panting form through the mirror while applying lipstick at her vanity.
“It suits you well. Since this is an important day, do apply some cologne and pay attention to your hair.”
“I beg your pardon?”
Her shameless composure left him speechless. And furious.
“The date you told me was not today! How could you arrange this without so much as a word to me?!”
“If I’d warned you beforehand, you’d have run off. I know you better than you know yourself, my son.”
“Even so, you should have given me time to prepare!”
“That’s what this is.”
“Mother…….”
Blake snapped the lipstick cap shut with a decisive click and turned to glare at him reproachfully. As if reading his very thoughts, she continued with perfect composure.
“Military life is different from business. To succeed as an officer, you need a wife to support you from home.”
“I’m not saying I won’t marry. It’s just that now……!”
“Don’t tell me you’re putting off marriage when I’m standing right here. I’d rather not bring up your father, but he married me at seventeen. I bore Theodore at fifteen, and I was carrying you at twenty.”
“That was more than thirty years ago! How much the times have changed!”
“That’s why you’re not trying to marry off some clueless teenager—you’re marrying me off at twenty-four!”
Blake’s voice came down like thunder.
“You’re all I have left! Your success is how you honor your mother!”
There was no point in saying anything more right now. No argument would sway her. Davion realized this truth, and a headache bloomed behind his eyes so fierce he thought his skull might split.
He thought of Cecilia as she’d been last night, holding him close, whispering her love.
He had no intention of betraying her like this. The shame of it, the revulsion, made him want to retch.
……Maybe he should just run now?
“If you’re rude to Esmeralda, you’ll find yourself on the streets without a stitch to wear.”
Blake adjusted her lace gloves with such precision, with such resolve, that she looked like a knight marching into battle. As she brushed past Davion, she crushed the last thread of hope he’d been clinging to.
“Oh, and I’ve removed the rear wheels from your car. Don’t even think about running.”
* * *
Cecilia, changed into her maid uniform, combed out her braided hair carefully before the mirror while Kate sat perched on the bed behind her, swinging her legs back and forth.
Whenever Cecilia came to the main house to change, she always borrowed Kate’s room. She could still remember, from when they were younger, curling up together in that narrow bed, their bodies pressed close as they fell asleep.
“I wish my hair were white like yours. It’s so distinctive, so beautiful.”
Kate ran her fingertips through her own red hair, voicing her complaint.
Cecilia, applying borrowed pink lipstick, caught Kate’s eyes in the mirror and smiled warmly.
“Your color is lovelier, Kate. It’s rose-colored. When I was little, I woke up one night and went out of my room, and Grandmother saw me from a distance and thought I was a ghost—she fell backward!”
“Hmm, I think I’d be a little startled if I ran into you in the dark too…….”
“But when I get old, I won’t go gray. I’m already white!”
They burst into laughter together, and Cecilia flopped backward onto the narrow bed. The sudden movement revived the muscle soreness she’d been ignoring—she bit back a cry, though Kate never found out.
On the shelf by the door sat a series of adult romance novels that circulated widely among enthusiasts.
While Cecilia and Kate both enjoyed romance novels, Kate had considerably more experience with men. Working here while attending school meant she’d naturally come to know quite a few of the opposite sex.
The moment Cecilia saw those books, she found herself thinking of last night again. Her toes curled pleasantly inside her shoes. The excitement bubbled up inside her, making her lips itch to tell someone.
What was she to do about this? If Grandmother found out, it would be serious—but Kate kept secrets well…….
“You know, there’s a secret I want to tell only you.”

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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